requesting all people having January h1b stamping at Toronto

h1f1

By h1f1,
in H1B : Visa Stamp

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h1f1 Member

h1f1

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Hi,

I just wanted to start a new topic for all people who are attending or have attended interview at Toronto, so that we can track our status and update other people who have their interviews in the coming weeks about the current experiences.

Me and my friend have an interview on January 9th 8:30 am at Toronto. We will be reaching toronto tomorrow night and staying close to the consulate.

Lets have a list of all email ids or if people prefer posting to this topic, so that we can have one go to place and we can all be on the same page. nay 221gs with color, or successful stamping experiences, or successful passport pickup experiences will be really appreciated.

Any questions regarding the process or documents will also be solved quickly if everyone and experts of this site post.

Hope everyone gets their visas approved.

Thanks.

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rkrishnavajjala Advanced Member

rkrishnavajjala

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Any updates .. Hope you got stamping done today .. Please post your experiences today ...

Hi,

I just wanted to start a new topic for all people who are attending or have attended interview at Toronto, so that we can track our status and update other people who have their interviews in the coming weeks about the current experiences.

Me and my friend have an interview on January 9th 8:30 am at Toronto. We will be reaching toronto tomorrow night and staying close to the consulate.

Lets have a list of all email ids or if people prefer posting to this topic, so that we can have one go to place and we can all be on the same page. nay 221gs with color, or successful stamping experiences, or successful passport pickup experiences will be really appreciated.

Any questions regarding the process or documents will also be solved quickly if everyone and experts of this site post.

Hope everyone gets their visas approved.

Thanks.

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h1f1 Member

h1f1

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H1b visa stamping Canada-Toronto experience

Me and a friend had a visa interview on 9th January 2013 at 8:30 am at the Toronto consulate. We stayed at Hilton downtown which is a 5 min walk to the consulate..

We reached the consulate at 8:00 am... The guy looked at our appointment confirmation letter and asked us to return at 8:20..

We walked to the Starbucks which is a block away to grab a coffee. The weather this entire week was very nice.. Not very cold but still required a jacket.. We returned at 8:20 And the guy let us in. We did not carry anything except our documents.. So it was a quick security check..
After going inside..a lady asked for the passport, ds160 barcode page and i797.. And asked us to wait in a queue... Another guy called us and verified all the docs and put them in a blue folder.. U can change your loomis location here..after that we waited in another line to go inside...in about 10 mins they let us go in...
There we waited for another 10 mins in a line... Then I was called at counter 3 and my friend was called at counter 4 to verify the documents and picture.. The lady here was sending a lot of people back to take a new picture which can be taken inside the consulate itself.. Our pics were good.. They issued us a token no...and asked us to wait..
After about 15 mins my and my friends no was called at counter 9 . Here they took the fingerprints and the lady asked us to wait again and watch for the same token no..
After about another 7-8 minutes my no was called at counter 8, by a middle aged American guy. There were 4 counters for interviews. Counter 5- lady, counter 6- young Chinese guy, counter 7- middle aged Chinese guy, and counter 8- middle aged American guy. I could not see the interviews taken by the lady and the young Chinese guy.. But the middle aged Chinese guy was issuing 221g's.. So all throughout I was praying that my token should be called by the middle aged American guy..and voila.. My no was called by him...
He asked me if I was nervous.. And I said no with a smile...
My Interview:

Vo: good morning.. How are you doing?
Me: I m doing good. Thank you. How about you?

Vo: is this your h1b extension?
Me: no, this is my first h1. Change of status from f1 to h1.

Vo: who do you work for?
Me: xxx (my employer name)

Vo: what is your field of study?
Me: information management

Vo: what is the level of study?
Me: masters from us university

Vo: what do you work as?
Me: analyst

Vo: what do you do as an analyst?
Me: gather requirements

Vo: do you have a client?
Me: yes, yyy

All this while he was typing something on the computer. Then he removed the paper with was your visa approved written and the employee handbook...and almost said... Your visa is approved... But then he asked if I have a client letter..
I said I have requested a client letter several times but it is the policy of her client to not provide any such letter, and I have an email communication stating the same. He did not want to look at the email, but I showed it anyway. He then said that it is US law for the client to give a letter..and said I m recommending your visa.
He then gave me that sheet and employee handbook and said your passport should be available in 3-5 business days. He also stated that when you come for an extension please carry the tax returns and w2s as they might be asked. I said sure I will and thanked him. Came out of the consulate and started waiting for my friend.
Her token was right the next one after me , but she dint get called until half an hour after I left..
Her interview: I so not know the exact sequence but she was asked about employer, client, w2s, pay stubs. But she got a 221g based on a w2 error by one of her previous employers. The lady vo gave her a yellow 221g with a batch number and said that we will need additional time to process your application.

She was sad that she dint get the visa approved, but we knew it was the previous employers mistake. So we just waited to see if there is any communication. She got an email the very next day around noon asking her to submit additional documents which included last six months bank statements, paystubs and client letter. As Tuesday and Thursday are the only two days to submit documents we rushed back from Niagara to Toronto, got there At 2:00 pm, printed her documents, and submitted the documents at around 2:30. Since then no communication yet, but looking at the swiftness of the email, looks like she should hear back soon from the consulate.

Will update as and when any changes occur to her application.

In the mean time I got an email on Saturday early morning around 1:00 am stating that loomis has picked up my passport but its not ready for pickup yet. On Monday afternoon I collected my passport from Brampton loomis and flew back to the states in the night. Immigration was done with no issues. New i94 was issued and attached to my passport. My old i94 was taken at the US airport when I was leaving for Canada. So everything went smoothly.

For people who are looking to Tavel to Toronto, we took porter airlines which flys to billy bishop airport in downtown toronto.. It is convenient to get to the consulate from there. And I took the same flight back as well.

Hopefully everyone gets their stamps.

Cheers

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h1f1 Member

h1f1

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my friend received an email from the consulate this morning to submit her passport. She will submit the passport today and hopefully be back early next week.

So i think the processing i spretty fast. SHe received 2 emails from the consulate within 10 days and is going to be back in USA soon. So please dont loose hope. Everyone should get their visa if all documents are correct.

Thanks

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